Over Half Of Hillary's Private Meetings As Secretary Were With Donors Who Paid $156 Million

In the latest confirmation that Hillary's receipt of donations while Secretary of State was a conflict of interest at best and criminal cronyism and "favor peddling" at worst (it would be ideal if the DOJ could chime in here, however the just as conflicted Department of Justice, which is headed by a 1999 Bill Clinton appointee, has decided to avoid the topic of the Clinton Foundation for obvious reasons), AP reports that more than half, or at least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or spoke to Clinton while she led the State Department, donated to her family charity or pledged commitments.

Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million.

The 154 number did not include U.S. federal employees or foreign government representatives: separately, Hillary met with representatives of at least 16 foreign governments that donated as much as $170 million to the Clinton charity, but they were not included in AP's calculations because such meetings would presumably have been part of her diplomatic duties, but most likely resulted in such "quid pro quo" as the fast-tracking of weapons deliveries to countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Getting the information was, understandably, not easy. Despite the data being technically public, Hillary did not want the world to know just how many wealthy "donors" she is beholden to. As a result, the AP first sought Clinton's calendar and schedules three years ago, but delays led the AP to sue the State Department last year in federal court for those materials and other records. The AP's findings represent the first systematic effort to calculate the scope of the intersecting interests of Clinton foundation donors and people who met personally with Clinton or spoke to her by phone about their needs.

Hillary's calendars and emails released as recently as this week describe scores of contacts she and her top aides had with foundation donors.

More